Cancer Support Community NJ's Kid's Support Program

Kid Support is a 10-week support and education curriculum broken down into two age groups: 4-7 and 8-12. The goal of the program is to reduce the stress of cancer by providing support and teaching skills, and to strengthen the parent-child bond by enhancing family communication about cancer.

Objectives Targeted During Each Session:

• Provide young people with age-appropriate information about cancer and its treatment.
• Address common cancer-related misconceptions.
• Promote children's discussions about what they are feeling and experiencing.
• Teach children coping skills.
• Promote family communication about cancer.

10 weekly sessions:

1. Getting to Know Each Other
2. Understanding Cancer
3. Understanding Feelings
4. Talking about Change
5. Learning to Relax
6. Talking about Loss and Death
7. Appreciating Ourselves
8. Solving Problems
9. Putting It All Together
10. Celebrating

Kid Support includes evaluation and parental consent. There is a start of program parent questionnaire and a different, end of program parent questionnaire that the same parent/guardian completes to get the most accurate before and after evaluation. Parents and other family members are also encouraged to contribute to the program by providing suggestions and feedback over the course of the Kid Support program. They can do this by phone, through a suggestion box and/or filling out a feedback form, and staff will stress how valuable their input is.

Kid Support is facilitated by a licensed mental health professional and supervised by a licensed, master's level social worker/Program Director. He/she will participate in continuing education opportunities and best practices within the CSC Affiliate Network including the annual conference, virtual symposiums and monthly networking calls among the Kid Support Program Managers/facilitators across the CSC Affiliate Network.